


The Beech Tree

by unknowableroom_archivist



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Marauders' Era, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-08-06
Updated: 2009-08-26
Packaged: 2019-01-19 22:47:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12419868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unknowableroom_archivist/pseuds/unknowableroom_archivist
Summary: The beech tree at Hogwarts has witnessed many beautiful things. There are three who mean more than anything. James/Lily, Harry/Ginny, Albus/OC





	1. Lily and James

**Author's Note:**

> Note from ChristyCorr, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Unknowable Room](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Unknowable_Room), a Harry Potter archive active from 2005-2016. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project after May 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Unknowable Room collection profile](http://www.archiveofourown.org/collections/unknowableroom).

**The Beech Tree**

_Lily and James_

The Beech tree had been at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for as long as the building had been Hogwarts. The tree had witnessed many things happening, many wonderful things. It had also seen many horrible things. 

But the things the tree remembered most were the miracles.

“James!” a pretty red-haired girl shrieked. A handsome boy with glasses was pulling her towards the tree from the castle, their hands clasped tightly. “James, you know we shouldn’t be out this late!”

“But we’re the Heads, Lils,” the boy—James—assured her smoothly. The tree had seen this boy many times. He’d also seen the girl—Lily—frequently. They hadn’t come together before, except for that one time.

Their union struck the beech tree as odd. The last time it had seen the two together, they’d been fighting quite terribly. The tree watched in wonder as James plopped down on the grass under it, pulling the girl by her hand to join him.

“We can be out just a _little_ late,” he said in her ear. Lily smiled. “Right?”

The tree saw him catch her lips, and she didn’t say anything back. It assumed she was fine with staying out late, as long as he was with her. The sun setting over the lake was a beautiful sight for two lovers.

Amazingly, they continued to kiss for a long time, neither of them saying much. She pulled away, suddenly, after about ten minutes though.

“James, I need to know something.” She looked very serious, and the tree wondered what could be so important to interrupt their kisses. They’d looked very…happy. “You know what I want. I won’t snog you again until you say it.”

“Lils, I don’t get your obsession with this,” he said, and the tree noticed how wary he was being. Their hands were still joined, but they weren’t looking at each other anymore. “They’re just words, and as I recall, when I said them before, you nearly blew up.”

Blew up?! Why would he want her to say something that would cause her harm?

“I don’t care what I did when you were still a dickhead,” she told him, rather impatiently. He smiled softly, but the tree remained confused. “We’ve been dating almost a full year, and you still haven’t said it.”

“I thought girls didn’t like it when blokes said…you know…it.”

“Shows how much you know about the opposite sex,” she said, snorting. “It’s almost been a year!”

“So why don’t you say it?” he demanded. He didn’t look as calm as he usually did. Whenever the boy sat beneath the trees branches, he was either with his friends—three other boys, mostly—or with a different girl. He’d never been to the tree with this Lily girl, at least not the way he was tonight. 

“The bloke is supposed to make the first move when it comes to things like this.” The girl was stubborn, the tree could tell. She was unlike any girl the tree had ever encountered. There was something…different about her. She seemed special.

“Why is it always the bloke?” The boy seemed like he was saying this more to himself than to her. He shook his head, and the tree shook its branches impatiently. It didn’t like to see people fighting under its protection. “Alright, Lils. I concede.”

She smiled, and the tree was struck by how beautiful she was. It was a subtle beauty, something that was rarely found in a person. It knew why he stayed with her, why she was the only thing he talked about with his friends beneath the tree. 

“Good.” She continued to beam at him, waiting. 

The boy looked a little nervous, but the beech tree could see he was trying very valiantly to hide it. He was usually very confident, but something about her made him change. Maybe not change. She made him better.

“Lily Evans,” he looked straight into her eyes, and the tree saw how perfect they looked together. “I love you.”

The light in Lily’s green eyes was almost overpowering. The tree understood James’s fascination with her completely. She _was_ special.

“I love you, too, James Potter.” He looked insanely happy at this, and the tree felt like the air around it was lighter, filled with unparalleled happiness. It had never felt this kind of joy as the couple embraced, both of them smiling between kisses. 

The beech tree didn’t think it would feel that kind of air ever again.

**A/N: I've been toying with this idea for a long time. It was also brought to my attention that there is another story similar to this one somewhere, and I just want to make it clear that I've never read it before, and this is purely from my head.** ****

There will be two more chapters, the next one focusing on Harry and Ginny. Fluff galore! I hope you enjoyed it!!! Reviews? Thanks :) 

****


	2. Ginny and Harry

**The Beech Tree**

_Ginny and Harry_

The beech tree was wrong, of course, because some years later, another couple took shelter under its branches. It had seen these two quite often, actually, and it was difficult to forget the girls’ lovely red hair. It also recognized the handsome boy with glasses.

At first, the tree was extremely confused. The boy with the glasses and the girl with the red hair had left Hogwarts years ago! And yet, this boy looked scarily similar to the other one, and both the girls had red hair! Had they returned?

The confusion evaporated as soon as the tree looked closely at the couple. 

This girl had pretty brown eyes, not the startling green ones that were burned into the memory of the tree. Her hair was red, yes, but it was very straight. She looked more athletic, and she wasn’t quite as pale. She was still beautiful.

The tree saw that the _boy_ was the one with the green eyes, and they match the other girl’s perfectly. Other than that, he had almost every feature that James had possessed. 

There had just been a horrible battle at Hogwarts. The tree had just witnessed the worst thing possible, and yet…it had also been the best. The beech tree had watched as the boy battled with the man who was hurting so many people. Although the fight had been taken inside the castle, the tree could only assume that—judging from the immense joy going round—the boy had won. But that had been hours ago, and it felt proud to have the boy and girl beneath it. 

“Harry?” the girl asked, leaning her head on his shoulder. Their hands were entwined, and his other hand was playing with the girl’s hair. He’d always seemed to have a fascination with her hair.

“Yeah, Ginny?” 

Ginny? Harry? The tree recognized the two names. 

Ginny suddenly became very angry. Her eyes narrowed, and she removed her head from his shoulder, ripping her hand from his. He looked surprised.

“What the hell do you think you were doing, running off to your death in the forest?” She looked murderous. She looked a lot like Lily. “You could’ve been killed! And then what would happen to me, hm? Did you even think about me, Potter?”

Potter? This was the other boy’s _son?_ The tree took in the resemblance to James, and decided that it was actually very obvious. The tree also decided that the Potters had a thing for pretty girls with brilliant red hair. 

“Well, _Weasley_ , I _was_ thinking of you!” 

The tree recognized the girl’s name as well. Ginny Weasley was frequently spoken of beneath the tree. She was often admired for her looks her Quidditch skills. The tree had heard her name sighed many times as boys dreamed beneath it. 

“You were thinking of me, were you? Then why didn’t you at least say goodbye to me? I mean, honestly, you couldn’t forget about being noble for three seconds to give me a wave? Not even a ‘Sorry, Gin, I know you’ve been waiting for me for a year, but I’m just going to pop into the Forbidden Forest for a moment, give old Voldie _another_ chance to do me in!’”

“I’m sorry, I was a little busy contemplating my death, thanks very much!”

The girl looked a little shocked by his words, as if she hadn’t thought about that. The tree looked on as the girl’s eyes became watery. The look of anger on the boy’s face vanished, replaced by worry over his girlfriend’s reaction.

“Gin, I’m sorry,” he repeated, though this time it wasn’t in anger. He seemed a little desperate. “Oh, Merlin, please don’t cry, Ginny! I didn’t mean it!”

“I’m fine,” she told him, furiously wiping at her tears. “I’m absolutely fine!”

The tree got the impression that she didn’t cry very often. It was incorrect, once again.

“Good Godric, I’ve been crying nearly every night for months, you’d think I’d be out of tears by now!” 

“Why’ve you been crying…? Oh.”

“Yeah, you great, noble git! You’ve been gone, haven’t you? That’s why I’ve been bloody crying!” It seemed to embarrass her to admit this, but he looked at her with soft eyes. He pulled her to him.

“I’m sorry, Ginny,” he said it into her hair. “I’m so sorry.”

“You’d better be,” she told him, sniffling and trying to stay angry. She failed, though, and threw her arms around him, holding the boy close.

“I had to, love, I—” He broke off, wincing as though he’d said something wrong. The girl pulled away from his arms again, though she seemed more surprised than angry this time.

“What did you just say?” Her eyes weren’t watery anymore. They were sharp. He looked down at his hands, embarrassed. She pressed for more. “Harry, what did you say?”

“I said ‘love’,” he mumbled. He was obviously not as confident as his father. James always kept his cool, but the tree had seen this boy loose his far too many times. “That’s not a big deal, is it?”

“No, you arse, it’s a huge deal!” 

“Can we change the subject?” The poor boy was red as a tomato.

“Say it again,” she whispered. There was something else in her eyes; a light of some sort. His head jerked up to look at her. She smiled slightly, encouraging him. 

His confidence was coming to him, slowly but surely. 

“You want me to say it again?” he asked, and the tree heard a little bit of a tease in his voice. “I dunno that I want to.”

“Don’t be stupid,” she said, flipping her long red hair back. She seemed to pick up on his mood. “Of course you do. You’ve wanted to say it since I started going with Dean.”

“Maybe.” He smiled crookedly, deviously. Now that he knew she felt the same, he was playing with her. The tree felt like it was watching a replay of his father and mother so many year ago. “Maybe not.”

“Maybe I’m going to break up with you right now if you don’t tell me.” She was fed up. “After the year I’ve been through, you owe me.”

He thought about this for a moment. The tree listened carefully, waiting for the words his father had told his mother years before. The words that had most likely created the boy—no, the man—sitting underneath the beech tree’s protective branches, and as the tree waited, it felt a strange anticipation.

“Ginny, I love you.”

She smiled briefly, then let her face grow more serious. Harry looked a little concerned. 

“Hell yeah, you love me.” The girl grabbed his tie, pulling him closer to her before pressing her lips to his. Once more, the air changed. There was something about the two couples that made the world seem a little brighter, a little more hopeful. After all, witnessing the love that just two people could create was one of the most beautiful things to the tree. It wondered how pleased James and Lily would be to see their son with the one he loved. It wished it could see the moment when Harry told his parents he was in love.

This time, _he_ pulled away from _her_. 

“I think you’ve got something to say to me.” 

She pretended to think, one hand running through her hair. He waited patiently, and seemed know what she would say next.

“Nope, I’m pretty sure I’m done talking for the night.”

He sighed and got up, leaving her at the tree’s trunk. The tree looked on nervously. He wasn’t really leaving her there, was he? It would be the stupidest move in the world! Having seen many boys trying to woo many other girls, the tree knew that this meant that he was finished attempting to please the girl.

But Ginny wasn’t just any girl, and Harry certainly wasn’t just any boy.

She groaned as she hauled herself up from the grass, and yanked his hand back.

“Not so fast, Potter,” she growled. “I was just kidding. I love you, too.”

“You better,” he told her seriously. “Technically speaking, I gave my life for you!”

“Well, thanks for that.”

Their kiss was long—much longer than their previous kisses. But as before, something between these two people had changed. It was something in their chemical makeup, something that simply drew them together. 

And the tree hoped more than anything else that it would feel this happiness again.

**A/N: So sorry this took me so long, but I was at Cape Cod for a week, and then I went to camp, so I'm a bit behind :) A little fun fact for anyone who read _As Long as You're Mine_ \--my CIT at camp was absolutely beautiful, had perfect, long blonde hair, and amazing blue eyes. Her name? Celina. I was fit to be carted off to the asylum.** ****

Writing Harry and Ginny was no easy task, as they're not my usual couple, but why not tell me how I did??? Review, perhaps? 

****


	3. Eleanor and Albus

**The Beech Tree**

_Eleanor and Albus_

“Al, what are we doing here?”

This time, the beech tree acknowledged that the raven-haired boy was not James, nor was he Harry.

The girl with auburn hair is not Lily or Ginny. 

These are two people that the tree had seen quite often. They usually sat beneath the tree’s branches talking, fighting, laughing. They weren’t a couple, though the tree could see the signs. It was always obvious to others before either of the affected people could realize it.

The tree was anxious to see them together. It was sure that today was the day. It would happen.

“I-I wanted to talk to you,” Albus tells Eleanor. “El, I’ve been thinking about something for a while.”

Al and El. The school made fun of the two for a while, before it was known that she was dating not Al, but James II. After she broke it off, she stayed close with Al. Al and El. Now, their friends tried to convince them that it was a sign. They were “meant to be”. 

The beech tree saw that the boy was sweating profusely from his nerves. It took pity on him, and rustled its branches to create a nice wind for him. He looked up at the tree, curious because there wasn’t any wind. The tree tried its best to give him the confidence he needed. Al was so like his father, and not only in looks.

“What is it?” she asked, blue eyes imploring. While the tree noticed that all Potters liked girls with red hair, this was the only one with blue eyes. Lily had the piercing green, and Ginny the sharp, loving brown. But El’s blue was something unseen on anyone else. 

Al stayed quiet, and she added, “You can tell me anything.”

The silence was deafening. The tree moved again, trying to ruin the quiet. Al seemed to take courage from it—somehow—and he looked into her blue eyes with his green eyes. The tree saw how struck he was by those eyes.

“This is where my dad proposed to my mum. Did you know that?”

The question was random, and it confused her. 

“No,” she replied slowly. “You never told me that.”

“My dad told me in the letter I got this morning.” 

“Oh.” She stayed quiet now and waited for him to tell her what was wrong. His confidence seemed to falter, so she helped. She also seemed a little impatient. “Look, Al, we’re not kids anymore. You’re eighteen, for Merlin’s sake!”

The poor boy looked a little more confused than she had earlier. The tree wished she’d get to the point quickly.

“Okay, um, what I’m getting at here is that…well, we’ve been friends for a long time, right? Ever since James and I broke up three years ago. Do you…do ever think about being something…more? Than just friends, I mean.”

He looked at her for a long time. This was what he wanted, right? The tree thought he was supposed to do this, and it knew that he felt that way, too. _He_ wanted to be the one to ask her out, to make the first move towards what could be the best thing in his life. 

But she’d already made that first step! She’d suggested it! So what was he supposed to say? The tree could tell that Albus didn’t wish to be outdone, and that, as he looked into her lovely blue eyes, it wasn’t what he had to _say_. It was what he had to _do_. 

He leaned closer to Eleanor, hesitantly—gouging her reaction. He’d dreamed about this perfect moment for months, and it wouldn’t be ruined.

But, thankfully , the tree saw her eyes close and her lips part. The tree waited for him to follow through. Their lips pressed together so powerfully, it was shocking that the two didn’t bump heads.

Once again, and the tree believed for the final time, the air was filled with something so wonderful, something so simply _good_ , that the tree’s branches quivered a bit in the wind-less air. After years of waiting for the feeling again and again, the beech tree realized what this euphoric feeling really was.

Pure love.

**A/N: It's short, but I didn't want to overdo anything :) I couldn't think of anybody to put Albus with, so I invented Eleanor (I just finish _Sense and Sensibility_ ). This is the last chapter, thank you all so much for reading! I'm writing another multi-capter Lily and James, and it'll be posted soon. Review, please!**


End file.
